Chico >> Usually when a team commits 32 turnovers in a game, that can spell disaster.

Despite the dismal total, the Chico State women’s basketball team took down Cal State Dominguez Hills 74-57 Sunday afternoon at Acker Gym.

The pair of Whitney Branham and McKena Barker provided the spark that led to a New Year’s Eve victory.

“Their press obviously bothered us an awful lot. It wasn’t aesthetically very pretty but I felt like we just figured out how to stay tough,” said Chico State head coach Brian Fogel. “McKena Barker and Whitney Branham were really good for us tonight, and we kind of rode their coattails.”

Branham scored a game-high 26 points while Barker achieved career highs by scoring 22 points and grabbing 14 rebounds which marked the junior’s ninth career double-double.

Chico State struggled in the first half, falling behind 38-31 at the break after committing 18 turnovers thanks to the Toros’ full-court press.

In the second half, Branham got the Wildcats’ rally started by hitting a pair of 3-pointers. Vanessa Holland capitalized on a steal and turned it into a layup, cutting the Toros’ lead to 40-39.

Barker then hit a layup off the glass, and two Branham free throws capped a 12-2 run for a 45-42 lead with 5 minutes, 37 seconds left in the third quarter.

Chico State (7-5, 5-3 California Collegiate Athletic Association) wouldn’t look back as it held the lead the rest of the way.

“We defended much better, and we ended up doing a better job at rebounding,” Fogel said. “I think that was the difference.”

Chico State outrebounded the Toros 46-26. However, earlier in the game, the Toros (7-7, 5-4 CCAA) had the 19-10 advantage on the boards. Chico State closed the game with a 36-7 advantage in that department over the final two and half quarters, including a 17-1 difference in the fourth quarter.

At halftime, Branham, who notched her sixth game of the season scoring at least 20 points, said the team’s focus was all about having a strong first three minutes in the third quarter.

“We just talked about in the locker room, ‘We have to come out in the first three minutes because we had so many turnovers,’” Branham said. “We said, ‘All right, they’re going to come out with more intensity so let’s pick it up that much more.’ In the first three minutes we came out strong. Once we started hitting shots, I felt like that really gave us momentum.”

The Wildcats shot 48.9 percent from the field and were nearly perfect at the line, hitting 26 of 27 free throws. Chico State outscored the Toros 22-9 in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

“It was different because we haven’t been pressed in a while, and we didn’t expect them to come out in the press at the beginning,” Branham said. “Defense leads to offense, and we handled the press a lot better. We had to figure it out because at one point they had three steals in a row.”

Chico State will travel to Cal State San Marcos for a 5:30 p.m. contest on Friday.